Penguins score five straight to drop Bears, 6-2

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 6, HERSHEY 2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rallied for the final five goals of the game – including three on the power play – to take a 6-2 win over visiting Hershey on Sunday before 6,475 fans at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

Rookie Nick Johnson tallied a pair of goals for the Penguins, and Janne Pesonen racked up a game-high four points (1-3-4) in the winning effort.

Hershey initially took a 1-0 lead when Alexandre Giroux lit the lamp on the power play 4:36 into the contest, extending his goal-scoring streak to 11 games.

The Penguins’ Bill Thomas tied it at 7:49, but the Bears reclaimed the lead at 14:35 when Kip Brennan tallied his first AHL goal of the season.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took control from that point, scoring three times in the second period and twice more in the third.

Hershey has now lost consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 11-13.

SPRINGFIELD 4, PORTLAND 1 Springfield took a 2-0 lead after the first period and cruised to a 4-1 win over Portland, giving the Falcons a split of the teams’ two-game set at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

HOUSTON 4, CHICAGO 1 Jesse Schultz, who won the Calder Cup with Chicago last spring, tallied a goal and two assists against his former team to help Houston take a 4-1 win over the Wolves at Allstate Arena.